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Savino, advocates want medical marijuana available more quickly to children with seizure disorders

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Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), left, state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn) and other advocates have written to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to speed up availability of medical marijuana oil for use by children.
(Associated Press)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn) and other advocates want the state to move more quickly to get medical marijuana to children with seizure disorders.

Ms. Savino and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), sponsors of the state's recently passed medical marijuana law, wrote to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, asking him to work to allow emergency access to marijuana oils for severely ill children.

In speaking to the Advance, Ms. Savino mentioned one oil in particular, known as "Charlotte's Web," which she said has been known to help children with seizure disorders.

The state's medical marijuana program isn't slated to be up and running for at least 18 months.

"One of the concerns we've had is that the people who've been with us from the beginning of this fight weren't going to be here when the program got implemented," Ms. Savino told the Advance.

The move comes following the July death of Anna Conte, a 9-year-old girl from the Buffalo area who suffered from Dravet syndrome and whose parents lobbied for the law.

"Eighteen months may not seem like a long time," said Ms. Savino. "But for some people, it might be too late. We felt an obligation to at least have the conversation."

But Cuomo on Monday did not sound like he was ready to move the program along more quickly.

When asked about it at a press conference, Cuomo said "if we set up a system that goes bad or has flaws, we could inadvertently distribute marijuana illegally," according to the Buffalo News.

Cuomo said, "We want to do it as quickly as possible, but we have to do it right."

The lawmakers want Cuomo to allow the state to get the marijuana from other states in order to get it to child patients in dire need. But the federal government doesn't allow marijuana to be transported across state lines.

"We want to find a way to expedite things so children could participate in the program," she said.